News for Investors: Barrick settles dispute in Mali and Couche-Tard profits rise – MoneySense

A judge in Mali ordered in June that Barrick’s Loulo-Gounkoto gold complex be placed under provisional administration for six months.

Under the deal announced Monday, Barrick says all charges against the company, its subsidiaries and employees will be dropped and steps will be taken for the release of the four detained Barrick employees. It also says that the interim management of the Loulo-Gounkoto complex will end and operational control will be returned to the company.

Barrick says its subsidiaries will withdraw arbitration claims pending before the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

Alimentation Couche-Tard earns $740.6 million in the second quarter, up from the previous year

Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. says net profit attributable to shareholders in the second quarter was $740.6 million, compared to $708.8 million in the same period a year earlier. This amounted to 79 US cents per share in net profit attributable to shareholders, up from 75 US cents in the prior year quarter.

It in Laval, Que. incumbent company, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, said sales for the period ended Oct. 12 were $17.9 billion, up 2.6% year-over-year from $17.4 billion.

Total merchandise and services revenue in the second quarter was $4.7 billion, an increase of 6.6% compared to the same period a year earlier.

Couche-Tard CEO Alex Miller says the company reported same-store sales growth across all regions for the second consecutive quarter.

Couche-Tard Chief Financial Officer Filipe Da Silva said in a press release that the company repurchased nearly $900 million in shares during the quarter.

Blue Ant Media Group signs a deal to buy Thunderbird Entertainment for $89 million

Blue Ant Media Corp. has signed an $89 million stock-and-cash deal to acquire Thunderbird Entertainment Group Inc. to take over. Michael MacMillan, CEO of Blue Ant, said the acquisition of Thunderbird is expected to add scale and additional capabilities that will strengthen Blue Ant’s studio business and improve revenues and cash flow.

Vancouver-based Thunderbird’s production companies include Atomic Cartoons and Great Pacific Media.

Under the deal, Thunderbird shareholders will have the option to receive 0.2165 of a Blue Ant subordinate voting share, $1.77 in cash or a combination of both for each Thunderbird share they own. The maximum amount of cash available under the offering is capped at $40 million.

The deal, which requires shareholder approval, is also subject to customary closing conditions, including court and regulatory approvals. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2026.

Brookfield and GIC make bid for Australia’s National Storage REIT

Canada’s Brookfield and Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC have made a takeover bid for National Storage REIT, an Australian self-storage company, worth about A$4 billion or the equivalent of about C$3.7 billion.

National Storage has confirmed that it has received an unsolicited, non-binding, indicative and conditional offer. The company has approximately 94,500 residential and commercial customers in more than 270 storage centers across Australia and New Zealand.

Under the terms of the offer, holders of National Storage securities would receive A$2.86 in cash per stapled security.

The offer is made on the basis that a dividend or distribution of six Australian cents may be paid, in which case the cash amount per stapled security will be reduced by the same amount.